Apparatus and method for remotely controlling peripheral devices in mobile communication terminal

ABSTRACT

According to one embodiment, a method for remotely controlling peripheral devices in a mobile communication terminal includes acquiring a profile for a controlled peripheral device, configuring a control application for the controlled peripheral device based on the acquired profile, and controlling the controlled peripheral device using the configured control application.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/600,655 filed May 19, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/508,966 filed Oct. 7, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No.9,665,242, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/343,415 filed Jan. 4, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,856,411, which claimspriority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) of Korean Patent Application No.10-2011-0000370, filed Jan. 4, 2011 in the Korean Intellectual PropertyOffice, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference intheir entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The present disclosure relates to a mobile communication terminal, andmore particularly, to an apparatus and method for remotely controllingperipheral devices in a mobile communication terminal.

2. Description of Related Art

Information Technology (IT) convergence that includes characteristicsbetween devices are intimately connected to each other, and newconsumption contents that are created have become important to the ITindustry. Also, devices have evolved from a device with firmware forsingle function to devices capable of embedding an Operating System (OS)and using many services for various purposes. For example, these newerdevices may often include smart TV and tablet PC functionality.

Because it is possible to perform communication between devices througha variety of communication methods using a device with an OS and anetwork interface, it may be possible to provide a new service withoutthe addition of physical device. That is, new services may beimplemented on these converged devices using mostly software. Thus, itmay be possible to provide services for controlling peripheral devicesusing a mobile device such as a smart phone through a representativefunction among these convergence functions. For example, a TV remotecontrol function, a home theater control function, a car remote controlfunction, a PC mouse keyboard function, etc. may be performed using asmart phone. Because each remote controller may have a physical inputdevice customized to function with a corresponding device, there may bea disadvantage in which multiple physical remote controllers arerequired to control their respective devices. In order to solve thedisadvantage, the functions of multiple remote controllers may beperformed by the mobile device such as a smart phone. The mobile devicemay store instructions associated with the functions of multiple remotecontrollers to be used by its user. Herein, the mobile device may be ageneral term for a variety of devices, having an OS function and acommunication network function, such as a mobile phone, a PersonalDigital Assistants (PDA), a smart phone, a tablet Personal Computer(PC), and a notebook.

In order to remotely control a controlled peripheral device using aconventional mobile device, the user is often required to connect to anexternal server, download a suitable control application from theexternal server, and install the control application in the mobiledevice. Also, in order to control different controlled peripheraldevices using the conventional mobile device, an application for eachcontrolled peripheral device is often required to exist in theconventional mobile device. Accordingly, if the user does not rememberwhere the remote controller is, he or she may spend a lot of time tofind the remote controller.

Also, the conventional mobile device may control only a few functions ofa controlled peripheral device (e.g., a volume and channel changefunction of a TV). Accordingly, the conventional mobile device does notcorrespond to optimized control & interaction corresponding to a smartservice application which may be emerging, such as, a serviceapplication executed in a device having an OS such as a smart TV and atablet PC. In other words, because the conventional mobile device like ageneral TV remote controller unidirectionally transmits a control signalor displays only information about a simple operation state, it may notprovide optimized control methods of different applications executed ina device such as a smart TV. For example, in the smart TV, applicationssuch as a game application, an explorer application, a magazineapplication, a messenger application, and a multimedia applicationexist. The conventional mobile device such as the general TV remotecontroller may not control these diverse applications easily andquickly.

Also, in order to control a variety of applications for each controlledperipheral device using the conventional mobile device, because thewhole process to a program design, a User Interface (UI) task, andfunction implementation for each corresponding control application mustbe developed, a lot of investment cost and time is needed.

SUMMARY

To address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, it is aprimary object to provide at least the advantages described below.Accordingly, an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide anapparatus and method for remotely controlling peripheral devices in amobile communication terminal.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus andmethod for configuring one integrated control disclosure based on aprofile with respect to a variety of peripheral controllable devices andremotely controlling a controlled peripheral device using the configuredcontrol application.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a method ofcontrolling peripheral devices in a mobile communication terminalincludes acquiring a profile for a controlled peripheral device,configuring a control application for the controlled peripheral devicebased on the acquired profile, and controlling the controlled peripheraldevice using the configured control application.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, anapparatus for controlling peripheral devices in a mobile communicationterminal includes a profile manager for acquiring a profile for acontrolled peripheral device, a dynamic configuration manager forconfiguring a control application for the controlled peripheral devicebased on the acquired profile, and a control interaction manager forcontrolling the controlled peripheral device using the configuredcontrol application.

Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION below, itmay be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words andphrases used throughout this patent document: the terms “include” and“comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion withoutlimitation; the term “or,” is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases“associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivativesthereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with,contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, becommunicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximateto, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like; and theterm “controller” means any device, system or part thereof that controlsat least one operation, such a device may be implemented in hardware,firmware or software, or some combination of at least two of the same.It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particularcontroller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally orremotely. Definitions for certain words and phrases are providedthroughout this patent document, those of ordinary skill in the artshould understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitionsapply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined words andphrases.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and itsadvantages, reference is now made to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencenumerals represent like parts:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example mobile communication terminal and acontrolled peripheral device according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates example devices of a mobile communication terminalaccording to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example process of remotely controlling peripheraldevices in a mobile communication terminal according to one embodimentof the present disclosure; and

FIG. 4 illustrates example image information and layout information ofobjects configuring a picture according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1 through 4, discussed below, and the various embodiments used todescribe the principles of the present disclosure in this patentdocument are by way of illustration only and should not be construed inany way to limit the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the artwill understand that the principles of the present disclosure may beimplemented in any suitably arranged mobile communication terminal.Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described hereinbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the followingdescription, well-known functions or constructions are not described indetail since they would obscure the disclosure in unnecessary detail.Also, the terms used herein are defined according to the functions ofthe present disclosure. Thus, the terms may vary depending on user's oroperator's intension and usage. That is, the terms used herein must beunderstood based on the descriptions made herein.

Hereinafter, an apparatus and method for remotely controlling peripheraldevices in a mobile communication terminal according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail.Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be described with reference toa terminal. However, the prevent disclosure may be applied to all mobiledevices capable of controlling applications of peripheral devices.

FIG. 1 illustrates a mobile communication terminal and controlledperipheral devices according to the present disclosure. Mobilecommunication terminal includes a terminal 100 having input, display,and communication functions. The terminal 100 communicates withcontrolled peripheral devices 110, 120, and 130, acquires profiles ofthe controlled peripheral devices 110, 120, and 130, and configures oneintegrated control application using the acquired profiles. The terminal100 remotely controls applications (or services) of the correspondingcontrolled peripheral devices 110, 120, and 130 using the configuredintegrated control application.

A profile server (not shown) manages profiles of the respectivecontrolled peripheral devices 110, 120, and 130 and provides theprofiles of the controlled peripheral devices 110, 120, and 130 to theterminal 100 according to request of the terminal 100. The profileserver may be an external server or may be a local server. In certainembodiments, the controlled peripheral devices 110, 120, and 130 maymanage their own profiles without the separate profile server. In thiscase, the profiles of the controlled peripheral devices 110, 120, and130 may be provided to the terminal 100 using a Peer to Peer (P2P) typeprotocol through direct connection between the terminal 100 and thecontrolled peripheral devices 110, 120, and 130.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example mobile communication terminal according toone embodiment of the present disclosure. The mobile communicationterminal includes a physical communication interface 200, acommunication protocol 202, a device link manager 204, a service enabler206, a profile manager 208, a control interaction manager 210, a dynamicconfiguration manager 212, and a control application 214. The physicalcommunication interface 200 communicates with controlled peripheraldevices through transmission means such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee.The communication protocol 202 may include a data transfer protocol suchas a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), a Digital Living Network Alliance(DLNA), a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), a User Datagram Protocol(UDP), a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), and a RadioFrequency for Consumer Electronics (RF4CE).

The device link manager 204 searches the controlled peripheral devices.Particularly, the device link manager 204 may broadcast a search requestmessage to the controlled peripheral devices and receive responsemessages for the search request message from the controlled peripheraldevices, using the communication protocol 202 and the physicalcommunication interface 200. Each of the response messages may includeinformation related to a corresponding controlled peripheral device. Forexample, the information related to the controlled peripheral device mayinclude a variety of information such as a device name, a model name, adevice type, such as for indicating whether to control a device, anetwork address, and a service name, a service kind, an applicationname, and an application kind. Also, the device link manager 204extracts the information related to the controlled peripheral devicesfrom each of the response messages received according to the controlledperipheral devices and displays a controlled peripheral device list on apicture based on the extracted information related to the controlledperipheral devices.

The service enabler 206 searches services or applications performed inthe controlled peripheral devices. Particularly, the service enabler 206broadcasts a search request message to the controlled peripheral devicesand receives response messages for the search request message from thecontrolled peripheral devices, using the communication protocol 202 andthe physical communication interface 200. Each of the response messagesincludes information about a service or an application which iscurrently performed or changed from a corresponding controlledperipheral device.

If a profile of the controlled peripheral device does not exist in amemory (not shown), the profile manager 208 requests a profile server totransmit the profile of the corresponding controlled peripheral device,receives the corresponding profile from the profile server, and storesand manages the received profile in the memory (not shown) of thecontrolled peripheral device. In one embodiment, the profile includesUser Interface (UI) information for configuring a picture and controlcommand information to be registered in objects. Also, the profile mayinclude a communication protocol. The UI information includes imageinformation and layout information of the objects that may be used forconfiguring the picture. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the objectsmay be objects of various types, such as a button, a touch input, agesture input, a sensor input, a file list, a moving picture, and music,which may be provided to a user through a terminal.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the control interaction manager 210 remotelycontrols a controlled peripheral device using a configured controlapplication 214. That is, if the user selects an image of an objectarranged on the picture, the control interaction manager 210 verifiescontrol command information mapped to the image of the object, processesthe verified control command information according to a communicationprotocol (e.g., standards of a TCP, a UDP, a UPnP, etc.) defined in acorresponding profile, and transmits the processed control commandinformation to a corresponding controlled peripheral device. Also, ifinformation is received from the corresponding controlled peripheraldevice, the control interaction manager 210 analyzes the receivedinformation, compares the analyzed information with registered controlcommand information, and performs an operation associated with theobject selected by the user.

The dynamic configuration manager 212 analyzes a profile of a controlledperipheral device and configures the control application 214 for thecontrolled peripheral device in real time based on the analyzed result.That is, the dynamic configuration manager 212 extracts UI informationfor configuring a picture and control command information to beregistered in an object from the profile of the controlled peripheraldevice, arranges an image of each object on the picture using theextracted UI information, connects the extracted control commandinformation to each object, maps the image of each object arranged onthe picture to the control command information for each object, andregisters the mapped information.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example process of remotely controlling peripheraldevices in a mobile communication terminal according to one embodimentof the present disclosure. In step 301, a terminal determines whether acommunication control application execution menu is selected accordingto a key selected by a user.

If the communication control application execution menu is selected instep 301, the terminal broadcasts a search request message to controlledperipheral devices to ascertain whether the controlled peripheraldevices exist within a controllable range in step 303. In oneembodiment, the terminal broadcasts the search request message to thecontrolled peripheral devices, using one or more physical communicationinterfaces (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc.) and variouscommunication protocols (e.g., a UPnP, a DLNA, a TCP, a UDP, an SNMP, anRF4CE, etc.) for each device. In this particular embodiment, thecontrolled peripheral devices include all of a device in which a controlfunction for the corresponding device are configured in the terminal anda device in which a control function for the corresponding device doesnot initially exist in the terminal.

The terminal determines whether response messages for the search requestmessage are received from the controlled peripheral devices in step 305.In one embodiment, each of the response messages includes informationrelated to a corresponding controlled peripheral device. For example,the information related to the controlled peripheral device may includea variety of information such as a device name, a model name, a devicetype (for indicating whether to control a device), a network address, aservice name, a service kind, an application name, and an applicationkind.

When the response messages for the search request message are receivedfrom the controlled peripheral devices in step 305, the terminalverifies that the controlled peripheral devices exist within theircontrollable range. In step 307, the terminal extracts informationrelated to the controlled peripheral device from each of the responsemessages received according to the controlled peripheral devices anddisplays a controlled peripheral device list on a picture based on theextracted information related to each controlled peripheral device.

In step 309, the terminal determines whether one controlled peripheraldevice is selected on the controlled peripheral device list displayed onthe picture according to a key selected by the user.

When the one controlled peripheral device is selected on the controlledperipheral device list displayed on the picture in step 309, theterminal determines whether a profile of the selected controlledperipheral device exists in a memory using information related to theselected controlled peripheral device in step 311.

When the profile of the selected controlled peripheral device exists inthe memory in step 311, the terminal proceeds to step 315. Although FIG.3 does not illustrate that the profile of the selected controlledperipheral device exist in the memory, if the profile of the selectedcontrolled peripheral device exists in the memory, the terminaltransmits version information of the profile that exists in the memoryto the profile server. If a newly updated profile exists in the profileserver, the terminal receives the newly updated profile from the profileserver and may updates the profile that exists in the memory.

Meanwhile, when the profile of the selected controlled peripheral devicedoes not exist in the memory in step 311, the terminal requests theprofile server to transmit the profile of the selected controlledperipheral device using the information related to the selectedcontrolled peripheral device, for example, using a device name andreceives the profile of the selected controlled peripheral device fromthe profile server. At this time, the profile server may search theprofile of the selected controlled peripheral device using theinformation received from the terminal and may transmit the searchedprofile to the terminal.

In step 315, the terminal analyzes the profile of the controlledperipheral device, which exists in the memory or is received from theprofile server, configures a control application for the selectedcontrolled peripheral device in real time based on the analyzed result,and displays the configured control application as a picture on the UIof the terminal. In one embodiment, the profile includes UI informationfor configuring the picture and control command information to beregistered in objects. Also, the profile may include a communicationprotocol in addition to them. The UI information includes imageinformation and layout information of objects for configuring thepicture. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the objects may includeobjects of diverse types, which may be provided to the user through theterminal, such as a button, a touch input, a gesture input, a sensorinput, a file list, a moving picture, and music. That is, the terminalmay extract the UI information for configuring the picture and thecontrol command information to be registered in the objects from theprofile of the controlled peripheral device, arrange images of therespective objects on the picture using the extracted UI information,and connect the extracted control command information to the respectiveobjects. The terminal may also map the images of the respective objectsarranged on the picture to the control command information for therespective objects and registers the mapped information.

In step 317, the terminal may remotely control the selected controlledperipheral device according to a selected operation of the user usingthe configured control application. That is, if the user selects theimage of the object arranged on the picture, the terminal may thenverify control command information mapped to the image of the object,process the verified control command information according to acommunication protocol (e.g., standards of a TCP, a UDP, a UPnP, etc.)defined in a corresponding profile, and transmit the processed controlcommand information to a corresponding controlled peripheral device.Also, if information is received from the corresponding controlledperipheral device, the terminal analyzes the received information,compares the analyzed information with registered control commandinformation, and performs a suitable operation.

Thereafter, the terminal ends the process of FIG. 3.

Although FIG. 3 does not illustrate that a controlled peripheral deviceexecutes any application (or service) while the terminal remotelycontrols the controlled peripheral device; however, if the controlledperipheral device executes any application (or service) while theterminal remotely controls the controlled peripheral device, theterminal may automatically configure the optimum control applicationcapable of interacting with a corresponding application. The terminalmay acquire a profile or profile identifier of a service or applicationwhich is currently performed or changed from a corresponding controlledperipheral device (e.g. search for it from the memory or request theprofile server to receive it) and configure a control applicationcapable of providing the optimum control function to the user in realtime. For example, if a personal computer (PC) functioning as acontrolled peripheral device is searched and selected, the terminal mayconfigure a control application related to a mouse and keyboard functionof the PC based on a profile of the PC and may remotely control the PCusing the configured control application. If the PC executes anapplication such as Media Player or Power Point, it may transmit aprofile or profile identifier of the corresponding application to theterminal to allow the terminal to acquire the corresponding profile(e.g. search for it from the memory or request the profile server toreceive it) and configure the control application capable of providingthe optimum control function to the user based on the acquired profile.That is, when the Media Player is executed in the PC, the terminalprovides a control function for the Media Player to the user based on aprofile in which information such as reproduction information, pauseinformation, and volume adjustment information is loaded. When the PowerPoint is executed in the PC, the terminal may provide control functionssuch as a mode change function, a previous page change function, and anext page change function.

The present disclosure may reduce the burden connecting to an externalserver, download a control application for controlling differentcontrolled peripheral device, and install the control application in theterminal by configuring one integrated control application based on aprofile with respect to a variety of peripheral controllable devices.Also, because a variety of controllable devices and applications (orservices) may be managed on one picture, the present disclosure may havean advantage in that the variety of devices and applications (orservices) may be controlled with a single integrated control applicationwithout selecting and executing a control application suitable for acontrolled peripheral device among multiple control applications.

Also, because a control application for a new device (service orapplication) may be simply provided through profile acquisition andupdate without additional development of a device using search, controlprotocol, and control functions, the present disclosure may provide anadvantage in that development resources may be reduced. Also, becausethere is no need to separately develop a control application accordingto each model, and provide the developed control application to the userwith respect to a product which provides a variety of functionsspecialized according to each model even if the product is one productgroup, the present disclosure may have an advantage in that managementand distribution of the control application may be quickly andconveniently performed.

While the present disclosure has been particularly shown and describedwith reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understoodby those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details maybe made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device, comprising: one or more memories storing instructions; a communication interface; a touch screen; and one or more processors, operably coupled to the one or more memories, the communication interface and the touch screen, configured to: receive information on a first application being executed at an external electronic device selected through the touch screen, determine whether a profile for controlling the first application of the external electronic device exists in the one or more memories using the received information, the profile comprising a protocol for communicating with the external electronic device, when the profile does not exist in the one or memories, request a profile server to transmit the profile of the external electronic device based on the information on the first application, display one or more objects, on a user interface (UI) of a second application for controlling the external electronic device displayed on the touch screen, selectable in relation to at least one function of the first application of the external electronic device based on the profile, and in response to detecting an input on an object among the one or more objects that selects the object through the touch screen, transmit, to the external electronic device, a signal for executing a function of the first application being executed in the external electronic device indicated by the selected object, wherein the one or more objects respectively correspond to one or more functions of the first application being executed at the external electronic device.
 2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: display one or more objects indicating one or more external electronic devices respectively, on another user interface (UI) of the second application for controlling the external electronic device; and in response to detecting an input on an object among the one or more objects displayed on the other UI, request information on the first application executed at the external electronic device indicated by the object, to the external electronic device.
 3. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: broadcast a message to search another electronic device located around the electronic device; receive, from the one or more external electronic devices, one or more messages including information regarding the one or more external electronic devices; and display, in response to receiving the one or more messages, the one or more objects on the UI for the second application.
 4. The electronic device of claim 3, wherein the information regarding the one or more external electronic devices includes at least one of: data regarding a device name of the one or more external electronic devices, data regarding a model name of the one or more external electronic devices, data regarding a network address of the one or more external electronic devices, data regarding a service name of the one or more external electronic devices, or data regarding a service type of the one or more external electronic devices.
 5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: identify that the profile is stored in the electronic device; and display at least one selectable object on the UI, based on the profile that is stored in the electronic device.
 6. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the profile includes UI data for configuring the UI, and wherein the UI data includes at least one of image information regarding at least one object or layout information regarding an arrangement of the at least one object.
 7. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: display the at least one object arranged based on the profile on the UI for the second application.
 8. A method of an electronic device, the method comprising: receiving information on a first application being executed at an external electronic device selected through a touch screen; determining whether a profile for controlling the first application of the external electronic device exists in a memory using the received information, the profile comprising a protocol for communicating with the external electronic device; when the profile does not exist in the memory, requesting a profile server to transmit the profile of the external electronic device based on the information on the first application; displaying one or more objects, on a user interface (UI) of a second application for controlling the external electronic device displayed on the touch screen, selectable in relation to at least one function of the first application of the external electronic device based on the profile; and in response to detecting an input on an object among the one or more objects that selects the object through the touch screen, transmitting, to the external electronic device, a signal for executing a function of the first application being executed in the external electronic device indicated by the selected object, wherein the one or more objects respectively correspond to one or more functions of the first application being executed at the external electronic device.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: displaying one or more objects indicating one or more external electronic devices respectively, on another user interface (UI) of the second application for controlling the external electronic device; and in response to detecting an input on an object among the one or more objects displayed on the other UI, requesting information on the first application executed at the external electronic device indicated by the object, to the external electronic device.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: broadcasting a message to search another electronic device located around the electronic device; receiving, from the one or more external electronic devices, one or more messages including information regarding the one or more external electronic devices; and displaying, in response to receiving the one or more messages, the one or more objects on the UI for the second application.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the information regarding the one or more external electronic devices includes at least one of: data regarding a device name of the one or more external electronic devices, data regarding a model name of the one or more external electronic devices, data regarding a network address of the one or more external electronic devices, data regarding a service name of the one or more external electronic devices, or data regarding a service type of the one or more external electronic devices.
 12. The method of claim 8, further comprising: identifying that the profile is stored in the electronic device; and displaying at least one selectable object on the UI, based on the profile that is stored in the electronic device.
 13. The method of claim 8, wherein the profile includes UI data for configuring the UI, and wherein the UI data includes at least one of image information regarding at least one object or layout information regarding an arrangement of the at least one object.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising: displaying the at least one object arranged based on the profile on the UI for the second application.
 15. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having a computer readable program stored therein, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on an electronic device, causes the electronic device to: receive information on a first application being executed at an external electronic device selected through a touch screen; determine whether a profile for controlling the first application of the external electronic device exists in the one or more memories using the received information, the profile comprising a protocol for communicating with the external electronic device; when the profile does not exist in the one or memories, request a profile server to transmit the profile of the external electronic device based on the information on the first application; display one or more objects, on a user interface (UI) of a second application for controlling the external electronic device displayed on the touch screen, selectable in relation to at least one function of the first application of the external electronic device based on the profile; and in response to detecting an input on an object among the one or more objects that selects the object through the touch screen, transmit, to the external electronic device, a signal for executing a function of the first application being executed in the external electronic device indicated by the selected object, and wherein the one or more objects respectively correspond to one or more functions of the first application being executed at the external electronic device.
 16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein receiving the information comprises: displaying one or more objects indicating one or more external electronic devices respectively, on another user interface (UI) of the second application for controlling the external electronic device; and in response to detecting an input on an object among the one or more objects displayed on the other UI, requesting information on the first application executed at the external electronic device indicated by the object, to the external electronic device.
 17. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the profile includes UI data for configuring the UI, and wherein the UI data includes at least one of image information regarding at least one object or layout information regarding an arrangement of the at least one object. 